Mini Lesson - Infinitive Phrases in our Poe Unit

Infinitives are the basic form of a verb preceded by the word to, without an inflection binding
it to a particular subject or tense (e.g., see in we came to see). Infinitives can be used as nouns,
adjectives, or adverbs. Today the focus is infinitive phrases connecting with verbs.

To swim is prohibited. [The infinitive to swim is used as a subject.]

Andrew loves to paint. [The infinitive to paint is used as a direct object.]
She had a longing to escape. [The infinitive to escape is used as an adjective.]
He was too mad to speak. [The infinitive to speak is used as an adverb.]

Infinitive phrases include an infinitive plus all modifiers and complements.

It is easiest to get there by plane.
A. Together as a Class: Identifying Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases:
Lets underline the infinitives and infinitive phrases in the following sentences.
1. To get to the town, first you have to take a ship and then you have to take a bus.
2. Is it really better to look before you leap?
3. She wanted to try out for the volleyball team, but she learned that in order to do that she had to
have a B average.
4. They had initially decided to go mountain climbing but feared they were too out of shape to
try it.
5. They have always wanted to go to Germany to see if they could find their relatives.
6. Here the writer tried to develop an unusual image in the readers mind.
7. When Patrick was late, his friends decided to leave without her.
8. To win the prize will require extraordinary effort.
9. When they travel, his parents like to visit historical places.
10. If you do not want to drive in the city, you will need to take the bus.

B. Using Infinitives: Rewrite the following sentences by changing the bold words to infinitives.
1. Getting there by car is almost impossible.
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2. My aunt Mattie really likes swimming in the Atlantic in December.
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3. Listening well is a skill worth cultivating.
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4. I have decided that approaching him is more trouble than it is worth.
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5. Florence began taking lessons at the age of five.
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The Tell-Tale Heart Sample: On your own underline the Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases
Have I not told you that my hearing had become unusually strong? Now I could hear a quick,
low, soft sound, like the sound of a clock heard through a wall. It was the beating of the old
mans heart. I tried to stand quietly. But the sound grew louder. The old mans fear must have
been great indeed. And as the sound grew louder my anger became greater and more painful. But
it was more than anger. In the quiet night, in the dark silence of the bedroom my anger became
fear for the heart was beating so loudly that I was sure someone must hear. The time had
come! I rushed into the room, crying, Die! Die! The old man gave a loud cry of fear as I fell
upon him and held the bedcovers tightly over his head. Still his heart was beating; but I smiled as
I felt that success was near. For many minutes that heart continued to beat; but at last the beating
stopped. The old man was dead. I took away the bedcovers and held my ear over his heart. There
was no sound. Yes. He was dead! Dead as a stone. His eye would trouble me no more!
So I am mad, you say? You should have seen how careful I was to put the body where no one
could find it. First I cut off the head, then the arms and the legs. I was careful not to let a single
drop of blood fall on the floor. I pulled up three of the boards that formed the floor, and put the
pieces of the body there. Then I put the boards down again, carefully, so carefully that no human
eye could see that they had been moved.
As I finished this work I heard that someone was at the door. It was now four oclock in the
morning, but still dark. I had no fear, however, as I went down to open the door. Three men were
at the door, three officers of the police. One of the neighbors had heard the old mans cry and had
called the police; these three had come to ask questions and to search the house.
I asked the policemen to come in. The cry, I said, was my own, in a dream. The old man, I said,
was away; he had gone to visit a friend in the country. I took them through the whole house,
telling them to search it all, to search well. I led them finally into the old mans bedroom.
As if playing a game with them I asked them to sit down and talk for a while.